Tycoon owner targets India F1 race

NEW DELHI, India -- Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya said on Monday he was determined to bring a Formula One race to his country after confirming he had bought a 50 percent stake in the Spyker team.

"Owning an F1 team now, I am more than keen to bring it to India," said Mallya, a member of parliament who owns the United Breweries (UB) group and Kingfisher airlines.

Mallya said he and the De Mol family of the Netherlands had formed a consortium, Orange India Holdings, to buy the Spyker team for 80 million euros ($110 million) from Dutch sports car maker Spyker.

"This offer has been accepted by the Board of Spyker and exclusivity has been granted to the consortium to proceed with due diligence," Mallya was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

Spyker had bought the Midland F1 team in 2006 for 77.8 million euros ($107m), but last week posted losses of 29.9 million euros ($40.7m) for the first quarter.

The struggling Spyker F1 team has yet to score a point in the world championship this season -- and Mallya said the team would be renamed.

"The naming would take some time but I'll try my best to have India somewhere in the name," he said.

"Everything will be done after consultation with the team management.

"We would love to have an Indian driver but it would depend on other issues. We have to arrive at a consensus for that."

The Indian capital of New Delhi has been granted an F1 race in 2009 provided it meets the conditions laid down by racing supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone has often promoted India as one of the future markets for motor sport after home-grown Narain Karthikeyan drove for Jordan in the 2005 season.

Grand Prix circuit designer Hermann Tilke is scheduled to visit New Delhi this week to inspect three sites where a F1 track may be built, Mallya said. E-mail to a friend